Before the first hour was out at the 2016 Democratic National Convention on Monday afternoon, (July 25) the delegates supporting Senator Bernie Sanders made their views known — strongly — in a protest within minutes of the opening of the event.
Shouts were heard and a full-scale protest was in progress on the floor of the convention hall, along with a counter-protest quickly launched in response by supporters of Hillary Clinton.
Meanwhile, some 2,000 supporters of Senator Bernie Sanders marched towards towards the convention center in Philadelphia, known as the “city of brotherly love.”
The protesters are still angry over the scandal that broke over the weekend after the WikiLeaks watchdog group leaked 22,000 emails written by the leadership of the DNC.
The emails revealed a clear bias by the Democratic National Committee leadership – which was supposed to remain neutral – against Sanders and in favor of Hillary Clinton during the primary elections.
The leak made it clear that the contest had been anything but fair, and in fact had been rigged.
Both Sanders and GOP presidential candidate had maintained for months that the “system was rigged” and when the information was revealed, there were immediate calls for the resignation of DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
Ultimately, Wasserman Schultz was forced to resign her position late Sunday night, just hours before the start of the party’s national convention.
Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings gavelled the start of the convention after a choir sang a long, slow version of the Battle Hymn of the Republic.
However, it appears the resignation did not appease Sanders’ supporters, who still maintain their candidate did not get a fair shake and who are very divided over whether or not to support Hillary Clinton when it comes time to vote in November.